Racism

Pray

“Aid us, we pray, in overcoming the sin of racism. Grant us your grace in eliminating this blight from our hearts, our communities, our social and civil institutions.”

Utilize this Prayer for Racial Healing for Our Land or one of the many others available on our website

Learn

Read and study the Bishops’ recent pastoral letter against racism, Open Wide Our Hearts (y en espanol), and utilize our study guide to deepen your prayer and learning.

Act 

Share and discuss resources with your community including backgrounders, like this one on systemic racismeducational materials for classrooms, and scripture reflections.

Looking for ways to talk about working against racism with kids? The USCCB created a short storybook called, Everyone Belongs, about the reality of racism and our Catholic response.

California Bishops | Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism
California Bishops have held a statewide reenactment of the Stations of the Cross to draw attention to the sin of racism and ask God’s help in eliminating it.

The “virtual” Stations are also intended to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the tragic killings at Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, and the Juneteenth holiday, celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. Recording locations included Oakland’s Fruitvale BART Station, California’s first African-American Catholic Church, and a former KKK headquarters in San Diego.

(In the Diocese of Orange, Bishop Kevin Vann and others stood in front of the former Lydia D. Killefer Elementary School building in Orange, one of the first schools in California to desegregate. The school is on the National Register of Historic Places.)


Quotation selections:

“We cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” – Pope Francis, June 3, 2020

“Racism is not merely one sin among many; it is a radical evil.” – Brothers and Sisters to Us: U.S. Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter on Racism, 1979

“El racismo no solamente es un pecado entre otros, es un mal radical.” – Conferencia Episcopal de los Estados Unidos (USCCB), Brothers and Sisters to Us, 1979

“Racism comes in many forms. It can be seen in deliberate, sinful acts. In recent times, we have seen bold expressions of racism by groups as well as individuals. The re-appearance of symbols of hatred, such as nooses and swastikas in public spaces, is a tragic indicator of rising racial and ethnic animus. All too often, Hispanics and African Americans, for example, face discrimination in hiring, housing, educational opportunities, and incarceration. Racial profiling frequently targets Hispanics for selective immigration enforcement practices, and African Americans, for suspected criminal activity. There is also the growing fear and harassment of persons from majority Muslim countries. Extreme nationalist ideologies are feeding the American public discourse with xenophobic rhetoric that instigates fear against foreigners, immigrants, and refugees. Finally, too often racism comes in the form of the sin of omission, when individuals, communities, and even churches remain silent and fail to act against racial injustice when it is encountered.” – Open Wide Our Hearts, A Pastoral Letter Against Racism, 2018


OVERVIEW

Church Teaching Against Racism

Additional Anti-racism Articles, Video, and Books


PRAYER


TAKING ACTION


PASTORAL CARE